Runaway Norfolk Southern Boxcar Crushes a Richmond Floodwall Worker: $10 Million Verdict

On July 28, 1994, a crew of City of Richmond employees was closing a gate in the floodwall in the Shockoe Bottom area of Richmond, the opening where railroad tracks passed through the flood barrier. About two miles away, in Norfolk Southern's Belle Isle yard, a boxcar with a missing brake rod began to roll. The grade ran downhill from the yard toward the gate. The railroad's crews did not stop or divert the car, and no one warned the city workers in time.

The boxcar struck the floodwall gate and knocked it into the worker on the opposite side. His supervisor testified that he took the force of the impact full in the face. Virtually every bone in the front of his head was broken. He lost his sense of taste and smell, suffered hearing damage in his left ear, broke nine teeth, and sustained permanent injury to the frontal and temporal lobes of his brain. An emergency medical technician at the scene testified that he did not think the man would live. The same crash killed one of his coworkers and cost another part of a leg.

The worker stayed conscious until he reached the hospital, then slipped into a coma. He spent nine days in intensive care and 36 days at the Medical College of Virginia, followed by roughly four months of rehabilitation at NovaCare Community Rehabilitation Services in Richmond, relearning how to walk, talk, eat, and handle other basic functions of daily life.

Marks & Harrison's John C. Shea led the case for the injured worker, joined by co-counsel Roger T. Creager, James M. Minor Jr., and Deborah Thomas. The three injury claims were first consolidated for discovery and trial. Shortly before trial, Norfolk Southern settled the wrongful death claim and obtained a continuance on the coworker who lost part of his leg. About 24 days out, the railroad admitted that the negligence of its employees caused the collision and conceded liability, which left only damages for the jury to decide.

The plaintiff's team put numbers to the harm: $227,657 in past medical bills, $27,161 in past lost wages, more than $1.1 million in projected future medical and rehabilitation costs, and roughly $285,000 in lost future earnings. Through the McCammon Mediation Group, the railroad offered $3 million and refused to negotiate further.

The Richmond Circuit Court jury rejected that offer and awarded $10 million plus interest from the date of the verdict. Judge T.J. Markow entered judgment on the award. Marks & Harrison describes the result as tying Richmond's record for a personal injury verdict at the time. The trial report records no remittitur, reduction, or appeal.